Kenyan court rules parts of law criminalising consensual sex between adolescents invalid

A Kenyan court ruled on Wednesday in Kenya that sections of a law targeting sexual offences "cannot apply to minors found to have had consensual intercourse." Rights groups expect this decision to set a precedent in how the country handles relationships among adolescents.

The Centre for Reproductive Rights and the Reproductive Health Network Kenya on behalf of three adolescents, and the Network for Adolescent and Youth of Africa (NAYA) filed a case in August 2025 challenging four sections of the Sexual Offences Act, saying it was inapplicable to minors having consensual intercourse. The case cited the cases of two teenagers, where one, a boy, aged 17, was charged with defilement after police raided a room he shared with his 16-year-old girlfriend in February 2025, and another one, also 17, who faced prosecution after a pregnancy in a peer relationship before charges were withdrawn in May the same year. According to Justice Bahati Mwamuye, the two cases have now been stayed and shall not proceed in their current form. Victor Rasugu, executive director of NAYA Kenya, said "Young people in Kenya have been living in fear, afraid to go to a clinic, afraid to speak to an adult, afraid that a relationship could land them in a police cell."

Victor Rasugu also said, "We will continue to push for full reform of the Sexual Offences Act so that no young person is ever again prosecuted for simply growing up."